It’s been argued Clare’s bus and train times must be better coordinated to make public transport more accessible.
It follows the finding that this county has the second-lowest percentage of people who avail of the bus for their daily commute.
Despite more bus routes consistently coming on stream throughout the county, just 6% of Clare residents said they commuted to work or education by bus in the most recent Census.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of commuters said they travel by car with over 35% admitting to driving on a daily basis and a further 25% saying they are a passenger in a car.
Ireland’s car dependency is well-documented with a recent survey finding that four fifths of households believe a car to be essential for family transport.
Of these, 30% said they use their cars multiple times over the course of a day and just 3% of the total number surveyed said that having a car isn’t essential.
Looking at the reasons for this, Killaloe Fianna Fáil Tony O’Brien, who works closely with the National Bus and Rail Union, says buses aren’t a realistic option for many families due to commitments outside of work.
Census 2022 also revealed that Clare has the joint-third-lowest proportion of train users in the country with less than 1% regularly availing of rail services.
Inagh Green Party Senator Roisin Garvey believes more joined-up thinking is required to make it easier for people use multiple forms of public transport in succession to get to their destination.
You can listen to the full interview below.
